Chase Elliott’s 2014 rookie season in the Xfinity Series doubled as his first full-time season in NASCAR overall, and it took him just six Xfinity races to make it to Victory Lane.
Driving JR Motorsports’ No. 9 Chevrolet, Elliott began the spring race at Texas Motor Speedway sixth. The 40-car O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 field was stacked with Cup Series full-timers, such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick, who started on the pole.
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Elliott, who was 18 years old, led four times for 38 laps throughout the 200-lap event. Harvick was in control for a race-high 101 laps and held the No. 1 spot on Lap 184 until Elliott took over with a late-race pass. Elliott stayed out front for the final 16 circuits around the 1.5-mile track and ultimately beat Busch to the checkered flag by 2.666 seconds.
Larson, Harvick and Earnhardt rounded out the top five, while Kenseth finished sixth.
Elliott went on to win two more races that season, earned Rookie of the Year honors and ended up being crowned the 2014 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion.
Relive Chase Elliott’s first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win in this Classic Race Replay of the 2014 O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
